Pet Lovers

[MoJoV]

I took my 13 year old Brussels Grifon Daisy for her wellness check today.  I hesitated about giving her rabies and distemper vaccinations but I did. My cousin raises Brittany Spaniels and her dogs live to be17 and 18 years old!  She says when they get up in years she doesn't get them vaccinated anymore.  I hope Daisy doesn't have a bad reaction being so aged.  

[reviewer from sc]

We don't have any dogs, but we have 3 cats--one is a senior. We are very careful about what procedures are done on him because he is so old. We also stopped any shots on him. He just lays around the house and on the deck. We have no worries that he'll go anywhere or anything will bother him. We still give him flea medicine (advantage) in the summer. It doesn't bother him. 

However, this is just us. Every family do what you think best for your pet. 

[JohnnyWasnt]

Hi,

We had three older dogs and as they got older, we opted not to vaccinate but instead do titer blood tests.  

Because they had been regularly vaccinated most of their lives, I don't believe we ever had a titer blood test result that came back necessitating a vaccination.

We even had rabies titers done. 

Just a thought . . . 

[spent2much]

I found Dr. John Robb, founder of Protect the Pets, several years ago and stopped vaccinating our Golden when she was 4 years old.  I had her titer tested (a simple blood test) every few years and she always had good titer results.  We just lost her suddenly in September at 9.5 years old.  Rabies vaccines generally last for years, if not a lifetime!

protectthepets dot com

[Ainhisg]

We trust our vet 100%. We have both our seniors (13 and 10) vaccinated.

[SurferWife]

Our little dog is 12 years old and we still get him vaccinated, except for rabies, since we live in Hawaii, it is not needed.  I've never heard of stopping vaccines when they get a certain age, but it certainly gives me something to reasearch.

[kaiwahini]

I got vaccines for one of my dog's when she was 13 (she needed them for grooming) and we had to put her down a few months later.  She had health issues and I can't say that the vaccines made them worse.  My pug I stopped before he was 12 because his health was declining (he lived to 14).  

[qvcaddition]

Just rabies.  Couldn,t get license renew without.

[RedTop]

Yes.

[Another new name Sue]

Dogs in contact with other dogs should be vaccinated at any age. Mine is 13 and still gets vaccines because he has "friends."  I suppose it's possible that walking into the vets office or going for a walk in the neighborhood, especially if you're meeting other dogs, could expose your dog. The illnesses addressed by vaccines could be worse for older dogs than younger dogs. Like the current viruses circulating for humans--worse for seniors.